Oscar Sorto and Jose Villarreal called into U.S. Under-20 National Team

CARSON, Calif. (Friday, January 11, 2013) - LA Galaxy Homegrown Players Oscar Sorto and Jose Villarreal were each called up to the U.S. Under-20 National Team today for their upcoming training camp in Mexico. Sorto and Villarreal were two of 20 players called into head coach Tab Ramos' squad, which also includes Galaxy Academy defender Javan Torre. The U.S. squad will travel to Mexico on Monday, Jan. 14 for the start of a week-long camp that will feature a pair of games against Panama's U-20 team. The camp will be held in Puebla, Mexico, which is the site of the upcoming 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which will be held Feb.18-March 3.

Both Sorto and Villarreal, as well as Torre, were included in the U-20s last camp, which was held in Florida late last month.

After signing with the Galaxy in December 2011, Villarreal appeared in 14 games for the club in all competitions in 2012, scoring twice. The 19-year-old had a goal and an assist in 10 regular season games while also scoring once in three appearances in the CONCACAF Champions League. He was officially added to the Galaxy roster on July 14 and he made his MLS debut that night, coming on as a substitute late in the 5-3 win over Portland. Villarreal then scored the first goal of his MLS career four days later, tallying an 87th minute equalizer in the 2-2 draw at Vancouver, a goal that was selected as the MLS Goal of the Week.

He will be joined on the Galaxy roster in 2013 by Sorto, who signed with the club last month after starring for the Galaxy Academy U-18's. The 18-year-old spent much of 2012 training with the Galaxy and made seven Reserve League appearances last season for the club, tallying one assist. The first defender ever signed by LA as a Homegrown Player, Sorto has appeared in eight games for the Galaxy U-18's so far this season, scoring three times while helping them to a Division-best 8-1-1 record.